


Her Black Cat

by sorasgirl13



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Final Battle, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorasgirl13/pseuds/sorasgirl13
Summary: With Hawkmoth defeated, Adrien is at a crossroads, Marinette has realized who her partner is, and there's no need for them to keep the Miraculous Stones. Oh and just to add the cherry onto the cake, Adrien might have to move to London! The fall of Hawkmoth was supposed to fix everything, not break it all apart!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Kudos: 6





	Her Black Cat

Tiki reappeared from the miraculous as Marinette transformed from her superhero alter ego. Her large blue eyes stared up at her with great sympathy. A frown was present on the usually perky girl's face, and Tiki struggled with what to say to her friend. She opened her small mouth, but closed it, realizing there was nothing she could say that would make the teenager feel any better. It was not supposed to be this way. It was not supposed to have happened this way. While the Kwami had known who her partner in crime fighting was, she had thought it best to keep it to herself. However, she did not take into account the identity of Hawkmoth, because, well, how was she supposed to know? She only found out who Chat was because she could sense Plagg's presences. If she ever did tell Marinette, she knew it would only complicate matters, as it did. Now, the girl looked beside herself.

The final battle had been rough and while Tiki's stomach grumbled at her to find some form of nourishment, her main priority was Marinette. She looked battered and scrapped up, but nothing they hadn't dealt with within the past year. Her dark hair was a ratted mess, and her eyes looked slightly sunken in. But more than that, her spirit looked broken.

Marinette threw her bag, which normally carried Tiki, down on the ground a fit of irritation. She was frustrated, sore, and extremely tired, but her mind had refused to let her rest, until she figured out a solution to her current problem. Dealing the Mr. Agreste, formally known as Hawkmoth. Her hero, and person she dreamt of working for and eventually following in his footsteps in the fashion industry, was _the_ villain that Chat Noir and her had been fighting against for the past year. To find out that Adrien's father had been the one terrorizing her fair city was just icing on the cake. Correction, finding out that the boy she had been crushing on for the past year was her loyal companion and the guy that flirted with her non-stop, (as both Marinette and Ladybug) _that_ was the icing on the cake.

Of course as soon as Marinette had taken Hawkmoth's miraculous and he transformed back, she let out a gasp of surprise. Then, Chat had called him Dad, which only added to the surprise. Marinette did not know what to do at this point. She did not know how to even speak to Chat/Adrien. Who was he really? The suave, supermodel, with a nice heart? Or the alley cat, flirt with an adorable charm?

Marinette sigh as she sat down at her computer chair, her weight causing it to spin and landing her right in front of the collage of the supermodel teen. She had the strangest sensation to rip down every photo and throw them away, but thought better as she knew she would regret it later. Just because her head was a little messed up at the moment, did not mean she was actually mad at Adrien. It was not his fault that they could not reveal their identities to one another. She stared at the teen's green orbs, contemplating the question once again. Who is Adrien Agreste? Maybe he was a bit of both?

Tiki flew over to her wielder, "Marinette?" she placed a small red paw on the girl's hand. "What are you thinking?" The girl in question let out a humorless chuckle.

"I'm thinking I've been fighting, side by side, with the guy of my dreams for a little over a year. I've been saying that I really know him, and claiming to be in love with him, when obviously, I have no idea of who he really is." She threw her head back, nearly screaming the last bit of her rant. When she sighed in frustration, she looked down at her friend. Tiki's large blue eyes were filled with worry and sympathy; it brought a few tears to Marinette's own blue eyes. "What do I do?" she pleaded with the Kwami. "I don't know how I'm going to react to him anymore."

"Just be yourself."

"You mean the stuttering, air-head I become whenever Adrien tries to have a normal conversation with me?" She let her head fall to her desk with a loud thunk. Tiki let out a small giggle, in spite of herself.

"No. The real, normal you, is in there somewhere. We just have to bring her out." Tiki tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the teenager continued to frown. "Oh, c'mon, it won't be that bad."

"Tiki, you have seen how I've acted around Adrien." Her eyes bulged a little the on sought of memories; her goofy smiles, slips of the tongue, clumsy movements around the teenage boy. "I don't think my brain will be able to differentiate the two sides."

"I don't think you have time to either." Tiki said staring out the window. "He's on his way."

"Crap! Tiki! Hide!" The Kwami hid herself in a jar that Marinette kept on her desk, just as the window to Marinette's room opened.

"Hello Princess." Chat Noir said, crawling in through the window. "I just thought I'd drop by for a bit." He said staring down at her. When he took in her appearance his eyes widened with shock. "What happened to you?" Marinette blinked in confusion for a minute before looking at her reflection in her dark computer screen. She supposed she looked a little banged up. Crap. How to explain this one?

"Hard day at the bakery?" she gave lamely.

"Wow. What do they have you doing? Fighting a giant blender?" he chuckled. She gave a nervous laugh.

"Uh, well, if you don't mind I'm just going to fix myself up. Be back in a jiffy." She shut the door to her bathroom, before he could say anything more. "Oh man, what am I going to do?" She took in her appearance in the mirror and her eyes widen. No wonder Chat thought she lost to a blender. She cleaned up her face and arms, and fixed her hair, opting to leave it down, since it was almost time for bed.

She walked back into her room, noticing Chat studying the photos displayed above her computer, all of Adrien. "Got a thing for models?" he questioned, a sly smile on his lips. Marinette felt her face catch fire. Now Adrien knew she had photos of him on her wall. She knew, that he knew, that she stared at him every day. Things could not get any worse. "I didn't mean to embarrass you." He said smoothly. Marinette didn't know how to respond, so she just looked to the ground, blushing.

Chat studied the girl in front of him. Normally, she was talkative with this side of him. Normally, she would have some sort of retort for him, now she just seemed… different. "Marinette?" her large blue eyes flew up from the floor, catching his own. He felt his breathe catch for a minute. "Are you okay?" She nodded, eyes never leaving his. "You don't seem like yourself." She closed her eyes, and let out a deep sigh.

"Sorry, it's just been a bit of a rough day, I guess." He grew a little concerned. She was normally so cheerful, but now she seemed, almost deflated somehow.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know if I would be able to with you." She gave a small smile, but he didn't know what to make of her comment.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever felt like you thought you knew someone, and then they turned out to be someone completely different?" _Stupid question, Marinette, of course he does. He just discovered that his father was Hawkmoth only a few hours ago._ "Uh, never mind. It's not im-"

"Yeah, I do." She stared up at his green cat-like eyes. "I know exactly how that feels."

Chat clenched his fists. He knew his father was a lot of things. A bad parent? Sure. A broken hearted man? Absolutely. Cold, and calculating? Yes. A villain? No. That thought never once accrued to him. To think that Gabriel Agreste, lead fashion designer, billionaire, and parent, was the arch villain to Ladybug and Chat Noir. That he purposely put their lives in danger and all for what? To bring back the women he had loss? To make her love him again? Adrien wanted his mother back too, but that didn't excuse his father's behavior. So, if anyone knew what Marinette was talking about, it was him.

Marinette did not know what to say to Adrien/Chat. She was having a hard time as it was trying to separate the knowledge that she knew who Chat Noir was. Who was she kidding? She could hardly stand the fact that Adrien, was once again in her room, had saw the pictures of himself on her wall, and was talking with her so casually. She was trying desperately to hold in the knowledge and scream out the fact that she knew Adrien was Chat Noir. But looking at how much he was struggling right now, it was slowly eating her. Adrien must be in so much pain. She cleared her mind, and bit her lip before addressing him. "Chat?" he seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking about. He stared up at her, blinking.

"Sorry." He said with a small smile. "It's been a long day for me too." She smiled back, unsure what to say. "I mean, I'm sure you've heard the news by now."

"News?" What news?

"Ladybug and I caught Hawkmoth." He stated. He was trying to sound proud, but it came out sounding rather sad.

"Oh." Marinette tried to act surprised. "That's wonderful!"

"Yeah." He let out a shy laugh. "It's been a bit of a hectic day."

"I'm sure you're tired. You should probably head home and get some rest."

"Actually, home is the last place I want to be right now."

_Stupid Marinette! Of course he doesn't want to be at home right now! It's probably crawling with reporters._

"That's kind of why I came here. Of course, I wanted to check up on my Princess, but I really just wanted someone to talk to as well."

"What about Ladybug?" She said without thinking.

"Ladybug was close to transforming back, so she had to head home. Man, you should have seen the way she fought today." His voice cared an air of awe. "She's a serious force. I mean, the entire team is, but, Ladybug. She's special." Marinette couldn't help but giggle as she sat down in her floor by her bed. Chat followed suite, sitting next to her.

"Sounds like someone has a bit of a crush." Chat's smile vanished and a slight blush stained his cheeks.

"I think I'm in love with her." He said with a serious tone. Marinette's face caught fire again. Adrien truly was in love with Ladybug. Meaning, all those times that Chat had flirted with Ladybug… Flashes of memories of Chat flirting with her as Ladybug came rushing back. The kiss she gave him as Chat, the most prominent memory, during their fight with Dark Cupid.

"Marinette, are you okay? Your face is really red." She shook away the memories, trying to focus on Chat.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting that. Everyone knows you're a flirt, so I figured when you were with Ladybug, it was no different than how you are with me." She rambled out. Chat tilted his head to the side, in a cat-like manner.

"What do you mean, 'Everyone knows I'm a flirt'? I only flirt with one girl, and that's my lady."

"Don't kid yourself." She said point an accused finger at the superhero. "You flirt with me too."

"I do?" he seemed to take a moment to think about it. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I do." She gave him a smug smile. "I guess, you just remind me so much of my lady, it just comes naturally." Marinette was taken aback.

"Please," she tried to blow off his comparison, feeling a little more than nervous. "I'm nothing like Ladybug." Which she always thought was true. While she was Ladybug, identifying as the superhero had always been difficult for Marinette. She did not see herself as the strong, brave type. That's who she was when she wore the mask. Under the mask, she was just plain Marinette. Tiki may transform her into the superhero, but Marinette was starting to speculate that particular characteristics of the Kwami fused with her. For example, Ladybug was normally very graceful, unlike Marinette, who seemed like a klutz half of the time. Ladybug was always so confident and optimistic, while Marinette seemed to always lean towards the pessimistic side and was not very confident.

"You're more like Ladybug then you give yourself credit for." Chat's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He smiled at her, genuinely, causing her heart to speed up. "You're the class president right?" she nodded. "When you were running your campaign, your class was attacked by the akumatized knight. I thought it was admiral of you to take charge the way you did. It reminded me a lot of my lady. Seemed like something she would do." He smiled again and Marinette couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks even if she did try. If only he knew.

Maybe he shouldn't.

It was at that moment that she felt like a bag of rocks fell on top of her stomach. If Adrien were to ever find out that she was Ladybug, he would be disappointed. It had always been a fear of hers, but here he was practically confirming it, in her mind. Both sides of him, were only in love with one side of her. The thought made her feel lousier than she had before.

She turned away from the superhero. "I was only doing what anyone would have done." She mumbled.

"That's another thing!" he said quickly. "You're also modest, and humble." The feeling in her stomach wouldn't leave as he spoke.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about, Chat."

"I think you don't see yourself that way, because your too busy noticing your flaws, rather than your positive traits." He smirked, but noticed Marinette not smiling. In fact, she looked sad again. "Marinette?" She let out a shaky breath. "Marinette?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep the worried tone out of his voice.

"I'm – I'm nothing like Ladybug. And – and." She let out a sob hugging her knees. Chat, growing slightly uncomfortable at the sight of a girl crying, tried to be reassuring, by patting her shoulder. "He'll – he'll never see me." She finally let out. Realizing what she had just said, she turned wide, tearful eyes to Chat. He turned to look at the pictures of his alter-ego on her wall. Well, now, didn't he feel like the lowest human being on the plant? Marinette had obviously had some feelings for him, and here he was chasing a girl he didn't even know. But it wasn't like he could turn his feelings off for Ladybug. He sighed, and looked at the girl next to him. Her blue eyes, filled with tears, but her expression wasn't one of sorrow, more of horror. Like she was completely terrified.

"I won't say anything." He told her with a reassuring smile. But the panicky look on her face didn't fade. "Marinette. Honestly, I don't know what to say." She blink at him, confused and frightened that he had somehow found out that she knew he was Adrien. But as he continued, her worry subsided a bit. "I mean, I'm not the best when it comes to advice about love. I mean, here I am chasing after a girl, and I don't even know her real name." he stared down at his boot covered feet. "I do know one thing." He turned to stare at the photos of himself again. "He would be lucky to know a girl like you thought about him like that." Marinette's breath hitched, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands.

She couldn't believe it. Adrien, just told her that being with him was a possibility. She could not believe it. At least, that's how her mind interpreted his statement. _Wait, what if that was not what he meant at all?_ Her mind asked. She was always one to over think things, but this might actually call for it. Adrien, was obviously still in love with Ladybug, and there was no way she was going to tell him that she was Ladybug. He would only see her as Ladybug and not Marinette. Kind of like how she was having a hard time seeing Chat Noir right now. _Stupid! Hypocrite!_ Here she was panicking about how Adrien would only see Ladybug, and here he was as Chat and she could only see Adrien. While she didn't mind his alter-ego, he acted more like a playboy, rather than the suave and charming guy she knew from school. God! How she wanted to ask him which was his real personality. Which was he? The nice guy or the playboy? The guy that goofs off or the guy that protects everyone? Well, that one was a no brainer. Both Adrien and Chat protected everyone. _I guess that's a shared personality trait._

Marinette still wasn't saying anything to him. So he tried to change tactics. "Tell me what you like about him?a" he tried to ask in a casual way. Marinette blinked a few times, rubbing away the stray tears that had fallen. She sniffed, before standing up to retrieve a tissue. She stared at the pictures of Adrien on her wall. Trying to ignore the fact that the boy was sitting right in her room, she starting speaking, words she had not said aloud to anyone, but herself, and Tiki.

"He's kind. He's sweet. At first, I thought he was as mean as another one of my classmates." She gave Chat an apologetic smile before looking down at her feet. "But it turns out, I was wrong. He was kind to me, when he didn't need to be. Since then, I couldn't get him off my mind. I started noticing things. Quirks and mannerisms about him. He's genuinely a nice guy. He doesn't do things to try to gain favors, or to try to get some reward out of it. He seems like he wants to help those in need." She looked back up to find Chat a mere foot away from her.

"Wow." He cleared his throat. "You – you noticed all that, huh?" he rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. Marinette couldn't help but connect the boy and the superhero together. She smiled.

"Yeah."

When she smiled, Chat couldn't help but blush. It was so pure, so honest. No one had spoken about him like the way Marinette had before. He was always just trying to do the right thing, but Marinette, saw it as him being a hero in an ironic way. He chuckled. Leave it to Marinette to see the best in him. She seemed to do that a lot when it came to people. Except for Chloe, but he figured there was some history there.

Feeling the mood getting heavy, he wanted to loosen things up. He cleared his throat again and smirked. "So, tell me, my Princess, if you see that in a guy like him. What do you see in me?"

Marinette was taken aback for a moment. Switching from Adrien to Chat was hard enough on her brain right now. Now he wanted a comparison? What a silly kitty he was. Marinette decided to humor him.

"That's easy." she spoke, taking a seat on her bed. "You are a lot like an alley cat."

"An alley cat?" he asked, slightly offended.

"Yes, an alley cat." She said with a nod. "You do your own thing. You are your own person. Slightly rebellious, but know when to follow orders. You're a bit of a flirt, but as you said earlier, you only flirt with one girl." He blushed again at being called a flirt. It was no wonder that Ladybug rebuffed his affections. "But you're genuine too. And Loyal. When Ladybug's in a pinch, she knows she can count on you. She knows you're dependable. And," she stared up at him, her blue eyes penetrating into his soul, "you're also a great listener." He blinked a few times, unsure what to say.

"You caught all that too, huh?" he finally said, moving to the bed to sit next to her. She nodded, but didn't look at him. "Funny, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were in love with me instead of him." He blurted out without thinking. "I mean – " his voice was cut off as he looked to see Marinette's reaction, waiting for a slap or for something to be thrown at his head, instead, her face was bright red, and she was trembling slightly. "I, uh, didn't mean to imply…" his voice trailed off.

_He's wrong. He has to be wrong. I mean sure Chat is a great friend, and a great listener. I helped him once. That was it. But it wasn't like we didn't see each other all the time._ Her voice was screaming in her own head. In love with Chat Noir?! She thought it could be possible now, because she knew who he was, but before… no. There was no way. Chat was so different from Adrien. Sure he was adorable when he tried to impress her. And he was brave, and strong. _Those cat puns though._ She thought to herself. "If I was to fall in love with you," she started, face still red, "the first thing to go would be those cat puns." Chat blinked at her in shock. The cat puns? Really?

"What?" he started slyly. "You don't think my puns are 'claw-some'?" Marinette let out a groan. "Aren't they just 'purr-fect'?"

"Please, stop." She said in a voice that was almost pained.

"I can't stop once I 'cat' going."

"Oh my god!" She threw a pillow at his face. He laughed.

"If you keep this up, you're going to hurt my 'feline'."

"Oh my god, Chat!" Marinette groaned again, trying to hide the laugher in her voice, but failing. "You are the worst."

"Aw, don't be that way. You should 'fur'give and 'fur'get."

"Chat!" He smiled widely, as she yelled out his name. "You're horrible." She threw another pillow at his head, but he caught it with ease. Throwing it back at her, but she dodged in time. It landed with soft plush on the floor. "You tried to hit me." She said in mock horror.

"You started it."

"Only because you had to start up with your puns." He let out a chuckle, to which Marinette tried to throw another pillow at him, but he caught her wrist instead.

"My Princess, has some claws." She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her smile. It was then that his ring started to beep. "Of all the luck. Sorry Princess, our time is up." Marinette looked a little upset but walked with him up the stairs of her balcony.

"Uh," she stared but hesitated. He turned his head again, in that cat like manner.

"What's up?"

"Well, the thing is… can you… check on him?" Marinette asked, not sure how to word it correctly.

"On Adrien, you mean? Don't worry, I'm sure he's safe at home." He said without worry.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Marinette mumbled under her breath. "Well, I mean, if you happen to go by his house, can you just, I don't know, let him know that… that, that he's welcomed here. If he needs someone, I guess." Marinette bit her lip worried she had said too much. Chat eyed her for a minute.

"Don't worry Marinette, you're prince charming is probably safe locked away in his tower." He gave her a small wave and used his staff to leap off of her balcony. His words gave Marinette pause. That is what she was truly afraid of, even if he did just jump off of her balcony.


End file.
